SEATAC, Wash. — Southwest Airlines is continuing to cancel flights Monday after a weekend of disruptions, including flights arriving and departing Sea-Tac International Airport.
The airline canceled hundreds of flights over the weekend, blaming the woes on air traffic control issues and weather.
As of 11 a.m. Sunday, the airline canceled more than 1,000 flights, or 28% of its schedule, according to flight tracker FlightAware.
Between Sunday and Monday, at least 11 flights bound for Sea-Tac Airport had been canceled and/or rescheduled. Another 13 departures were canceled and/or rescheduled during the same time frame.
"I'm happy to get on a flight but I'm tired. I've got to start work at 6:30 tomorrow morning. I'm supposed to, but I'll start late," said Abbi Marr, who was traveling back to San Jose, California with her sister.
Their flight was canceled Sunday morning and rebooked to Monday. Marr said they were able to find a flight Sunday night.
Twinkle Patel's flight to Oakland Sunday was canceled as well.
"I called Southwest Airlines. I was on hold for three and a half hours and I couldn't get through," Patel said.
Patel was able to rebook with the Southwest agents at Sea-Tac for a flight Sunday night.
Customers who are affected should look into self-service rebooking options, according to Southwest Airlines' Facebook post.
Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), Southwest pilots' labor union, wrote in a statement that it is aware of operational difficulties and that its pilots "are not participating in any official or unofficial job actions."
"Our Pilots will continue to overcome SWA management’s poor planning, as well as any external operational challenges, and remain the most productive Pilots in the world," SWAPA wrote.
Southwest addressed the problems on Twitter and provided a statement:
"We experienced weather challenges in our Florida airports at the beginning of the weekend, challenges that were compounded by unexpected air traffic control issues in the same region, triggering delays and prompting significant cancellations for us beginning Friday evening. We’ve continued diligent work throughout the weekend to reset our operation with a focus on getting aircraft and Crews repositioned to take care of our Customers.
With fewer frequencies between cities in our current schedule, recovering during operational challenges is more difficult and prolonged."
The cancellations mark the highest rate by far of the major U.S. airlines.
Next in line are Allegiant and Spirit, both of which had canceled 5% and 4% of its flights respectively, according to the flight tracker.
American Airlines canceled 2% of its flights.